Qiao Lun did not go.
Because when Kurapika contacted him, he saw Chrollo entering the restaurant side by side with Neon.
Chrollo had disguised himself somewhat, replacing his coat with a full suit and wrapping a white ribbon around his forehead. Paired with his neat hairstyle, it made him look less sharp and more refined.
The table began to tremble slightly. Qiao Lun looked up and immediately noticed Hisoka's shaking body.
Clearly, Hisoka had already noticed Chrollo!
At the same moment, Chrollo, who had been chatting happily with Neon, abruptly stopped and looked toward Qiao Lun and Hisoka.
Just then, Qiao Lun and Hisoka stood up simultaneously.
The difference was that Hisoka raised a hand to remove his hat, an expression of perverse delight on his face.
Qiao Lun, however, held both hands with the gaps between his thumbs and forefingers facing forward, his palms slightly cupped. The restaurant's lights shone from in front of him, casting the shadow of his hands onto the floor beside him, where it resembled a toad's mouth.
A long tongue shot out of the shadow beside Qiao Lun, followed by Toad emerging fully from the shadow.
Chrollo had acted on instinct.
The moment he stepped into the restaurant, the hairs on his back stood on end, and a sense of danger flooded his entire body.
He immediately spotted the source of the danger and made his choice in an instant, abandoning Neon beside him and grabbing a nearby waiter.
While blocking Qiao Lun and Hisoka's view, Chrollo pulled away and retreated at tremendous speed.
But before he could take more than a few steps, a playing card curved around the waiter and shot toward him.
A book and a dagger appeared in Chrollo's hands almost simultaneously. The book was open, while he swung the dagger and sliced the playing card in half.
At the same time, Chrollo saw the toad's pink tongue pass the waiter as well, but rather than attacking him, it curled toward Neon, who had been walking beside him.
The tongue wrapped around Neon, about to carry her away.
But Chrollo could no longer spare any attention for Neon. A flood of thoughts flashed through his mind.
Why were Hisoka and Qiao Lun here?
Had they predicted his movements? After all, they had clearly been waiting here before he arrived.
Especially Hisoka!
Neither Shalnark nor Pakunoda had sent word that Hisoka had left the group, yet here he was, out in the open.
That troublesome fellow would never care what the occasion was. He would definitely challenge him.
Still, Hisoka's presence had one advantage: if Qiao Lun attacked him first, that would be tantamount to offending Hisoka as well.
So only two possibilities remained: either he would fight Hisoka one-on-one while Qiao Lun watched from the sidelines, or Qiao Lun would join the battle and turn it into a three-way melee.
Chrollo hoped for the latter, but his reason told him it was impossible.
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Chrollo abruptly felt a force tug at the dagger in his hand.
Though this sudden burst of force failed to wrench the dagger from his grasp, it brought his retreat to a halt.
Hisoka's Nen!
Hisoka had been in the Phantom Troupe for over three years. Chrollo could not claim to know him particularly well, but he had a rough understanding of the characteristics of his Nen Ability.
Transmutation: he could turn his Nen into something as sticky and elastic as chewing gum.
Aura gathered in his eyes. Using Gyo, Chrollo saw through the Nen attached to his dagger at a glance.
Clearly, Hisoka had attached Nen to the playing card he had thrown at him and concealed it with In.
When he cut through the playing card with his dagger, the Nen stuck to the card had seized the opportunity to stick to his dagger.
The pages of the book in his hand turned, and the dagger caught by the Nen abruptly disappeared.
"It seems you've made up your mind." Watching Hisoka approach, Chrollo sighed. "I believe you should know the consequences of attacking me now."
"I've only ever had one goal in joining the Phantom Troupe: to fight you one-on-one to the death." Hisoka discarded the Nen that no longer had anything attached to it, his whole body radiating a peculiar aura.
The restaurant's customers still did not know exactly what had happened, and they could not help looking curiously at the two men facing off and the waiter frozen in fright.
At the restaurant entrance, mafia members in black uniforms quickly appeared.
"It seems your wish will come true today." Chrollo's gaze passed over Hisoka and landed on Qiao Lun. "So you've been a mole all along? You had something to do with Nobunaga's death, too!"
"I did, but not much." At this point, Hisoka no longer needed to hide anything.
From the moment Chrollo appeared here alone and Hisoka launched his attack, returning to the Phantom Troupe had ceased to be an option.
"Oh, right, I don't count as a mole, either." As he spoke, Hisoka pulled off his shirt.
There was a huge spider tattoo on his back, with the number 4 on its abdomen.
But as Hisoka reached behind his back, he instantly peeled it off like a sheet of paper. "I don't need this anymore!
"Now it doesn't count as infighting, and we can fight without any reservations, right? I've been looking forward to this for a very long time."
"Heh, heh." Chrollo had not expected to be played.
The ability Hisoka was displaying now was not one he knew about. With an ability like that, there was no telling how much else Hisoka had concealed.
"You really have found an opportunity where I have no choice but to fight with everything I've got." Chrollo loosened up his body, his gaze sweeping over Qiao Lun. The other man's mobility far exceeded his own. Without outside intervention, escaping would be difficult with Hisoka tying him down, even if he wanted to flee.
Hisoka's Nen shifted fully into a combat-ready state. "Finally, my wish has come true!"
"To be honest, constantly having to watch out for you was quite annoying." Chrollo slipped one hand into his pocket, holding Skill Hunter in the other. "Then let's fight to the death!"
The instant he finished speaking, Chrollo actually attacked first.
Before Hisoka could even see exactly what had happened, Chrollo was already in front of him. At the same time, Chrollo pulled his hand from his pocket and punched straight at his heart.
Fast.
Too fast.
Hisoka defended himself, but Chrollo's sudden punch still sent him flying.
As Hisoka flew back and smashed through several tables, the diners in the restaurant finally realized
something was wrong, and they rose in a clamor, preparing to leave the restaurant.
During this, the mafia security personnel at the restaurant entrance made no move to enter and stop the fight. Instead, they quickly began evacuating the crowd.
Chrollo took it all in, becoming even more certain of his suspicion: all his actions had been predicted a step in advance.
Was it Neon's fortune-telling ability? That seemed to be the only explanation!